This article was written by Jordan Hall of Colorado Springs. Jordan is happily married to his wife, Kelsey, and is getting his masters degree in counseling. As a newly wed he looks forward to helping other young couples learn from his own financial experiences so that they may thrive together.

“The More You Give, the More You Have” Perhaps you think, “The more you have, the more you give.” Wouldn’t it be easy to be generous if this were the case? Today though, I want to propose to you that it’s the other way around-- “The more you give, the more you have.” As evidence of abiding by this philosophy, I give you one grand example - A case study of a true American success story.

I recently visited the Chick-fil-A (CFA) Headquarters in Atlanta, GA, and I have to say, it was southern hospitality at its best. We arrived unannounced, and they were overly kind in setting us up with someone to host us and take us on a tour. What a phenomenal operation CFA is! I am always impressed with their service and sense of gratitude. It’s no surprise they are the fastest growing fast food chain in America.

The campus sits on about 80 acres in what seemed to be the most beautiful part of Atlanta. The grounds were well kept and the lawns well groomed. Towering trees were littered everywhere and things were about as green as can be. We walked through the doors of the building headquarters and were warmly greeted by multiple employees. There was a gorgeous grand piano in the lobby and many marvelous looking statues, all of which had some significance as we later found out.

Through a corridor there were many cool old cars that Truett Cathy (The founder of CFA) has acquired over the years, including one not so old car, the Bat Mobile, from the original Batman movie. As we continued the tour, we finally came to it--Truett Cathy’s office. It was pretty big, but not over the top, and apparently there’s a reason it is big--so when large tours come in they can all fit in the office and Mr. Cathy can tell them stories. It seems that he is pleased to pass on any words of wisdom that he can whenever he can. And words of wisdom are definitely something I think I gained from this tour, but more about that in a second.

First, let’s get back to Truett Cathy’s office because I think it gives us a glimpse of who this man is, and I don’t know about you, but he is someone I want to emulate.

Again, it seemed like everything in his office had significance. There were pictures of his family and a large painting that seemed to stand out. It wasn’t a Rembrandt or Picasso or anything like that, but it was a meager painting of a Bible, painted by a young boy probably ten years old or younger. The story was that the boy painted it one day and told his parents it reminded him of Truett Cathy, so the story made its way to CFA and now the painting sits in Mr. Cathy’s office. As the tour continued, I began to really see Mr. Cathy for who he is - a man of principle, a man of hard work, and most of all a man of generosity. His principled life plays out in what is known as servant leadership. He is all about treating people well. CFA is notorious for this. They are always asking if you want your drink refilled before you have to ask and constantly saying, “My pleasure!” The servant leadership model is much sought after.

The Cathy family and many of the CFA leadership are often asked to travel around the world teaching their servant leadership model. It really isn’t that difficult of a concept. It just has to do with treating others as you would want to be treated and putting others before yourself. Not hard to grasp conceptually, but as I’m sure you know, not many people actually do it.

I also learned that Mr. Cathy is a man of extreme hard work. Back in the 50‘s, he and his brother saved up for years and then eventually took out a loan to open up a little restaurant called, The Dwarf House. Things seemed to be going well until both of his brothers died in a plane crash one evening. Truett had to then run things by himself. While it would be advisable and understandable to take a little time to grieve after a family tragedy like this, Truett had to get back to work to keep the business running, so he went in late the next day at about 2pm.

Sometime later, Truett’s business was growing, and he was attempting to start another Dwarf House restaurant. However, tragedy of a different sort would again hit Truett’s life. As he went to bed thinking about how to get another restaurant off the ground, the one he did have was burning to the ground. While Truett never knew exactly what started the fire, he didn’t let it get to him. He kept his plans, he kept his goals, and although they took a little longer than expected to achieve, he did achieve them and so much more.

Lastly, I must tell you about what I see as the most important quality that brought about success in Truett Cathy’s life, and that is his generosity. He is one of the most generous men I have ever heard of. To illustrate this part of his life, I’ll let you in on a few secrets that he would never openly talk about. Did you know that Truett Cathy feeds all 800-900 employees at the CFA headquarters everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? You may say, well of course he does, after all he owns CFA. Does McDonald’s do this? Does Wendy’s?

If you don’t think that is very impressive, I’ll let you in on one other secret. Mr. Cathy has set up a fund for all his employees around the nation that are aspiring college graduates. He donates $1,000 to a scholarship fund for every employee that has worked for him for at least 2 years and held an average of 20 hours per week, so they may have help in furthering their education. To date he has given away well over $10,000,000 just toward this one effort. He also received an award for it...

So the question is, “Are you looking for the kind of success Truett Cathy has?” His success runs much deeper than Chick-fil-A. He truly has lived a life of influence. And finally, back to our original question. Is it, “the more you have, the more you give?” Truett Cathy’s generosity began way before CFA began. Generosity is not something you acquire monetarily. If you don’t have it now, more money won’t give it to you. Give from what you have and more will be given to you...and true success will certainly seek you out!